"Lack of respect for a dying man"

My brother has stage 4 non-hodgekinsons lymphoma. Recently I went to visit him and was appalled when he told me the way he had been treated. He told me that on or around the 2/7/14 he was staying in a care home for some rest-bite, he said he had an appointment at Arrowe Park hospital (haematology ward) to get a blood transfusion. When he arrived via the ambulance service he was told his treatment had been cancelled and to go back to the care home which he did. He told the manager of the care home what had happened and the manager phoned Arrowe Park to complain, he was told to take my brother back to the hospital and they would give him the treatment. The manager explained that he was not in the position to take my brother back to the hospital, after a lengthy discussion my brother was given another appointment for the next day. Again he was picked up by the ambulance service and taken to the haematology ward at Arrowe Park hospital only to be told that he was in the wrong place and there was no record of his appointment. He ask to see the staff nurse who was only a few feet away and over heard her staying "tell him to go home and tell him I'm too busy" at which point the porter/ambulance crew commented on how rude she was and told my brother to make a complaint and he would be a witness. My brother is dying of cancer and deserves a bit of respect, I am totally disgusted by the way my brother has been treated, he feels he has become a burden to society and is now refusing to go to Arrowe Park for his treatment. Where is the duty of care and compassion, Arrowe Park Hospital should be totally ashamed, its a sad state of affairs when a dying man has his dignity take away when he needs it the most.

Responses

We are very sorry to hear about the experience your brother had at Arrowe Park Hospital. Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is committed to the provision of high quality care for all patients, however we realise that there may be times when we do not always get things right. I note that you have e-mailed the Complaints Department and they will contact you shortly to discuss this further with you.